- INEC said the result did not satisfy the requirement for a referendum

The attempt to recall Senator Dino Melaye has failed after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) verified only 18,742 of the 189,870 signatories.

Channels reports that the recall process which happened on Saturday, April 29 witnessed a low turnout as only 5.34 percent of the 351,146 registered voters in the Kogi west senatorial district appeared.

50 per cent plus one of the signatories is what is expected for the verification process to succeed.

Professor Ukertor Gabriel Moti who is the declaration officer for the exercise said the result did not satisfy the requirement for a referendum.

He said: “I Professor Ukertor Gabriel Moti, affirm that the information on verification of signatures to the petition for the recall of Senator Dino David Melaye of Kogi West Senatorial District has taken place on this day, 28th day of April 2018, and that the verified signatures is 5.34 percent of the total number of registered voters in the constituency and has therefore not satisfied a requirement of the law for a referendum.”

189,870 signatories had signed the petition, representing 54 percent of the 351,146 registered voters in the senatorial district, for the recall of Senator Melaye.

Had the verification been successful, a referendum would have followed.

“The general apathy that greeted the exercise, in spite of government efforts to mobilise people to participate, is a clear indication that the APC has lost relevance in Kogi,” PDP said in a statement signed by Dickson Achadu, Director, Research and Documentation.

The statement was issued on Saturday, April 28 in Lokoja, shortly after INEC conducted its verification exercise for the recall process.

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate on Legit.ng TV: